Favorite Secular Artists?

[CC1]

Originally Posted by MawMaw

Always loved the Carpenters.
Karen had such a beautiful
singing voice.

I agree. She had a very unique voice. Very soothing. Her death was very sad. I think she was the first and maybe only Celebrity death I knew about that was brought on by a eating disorder.

When I was about 11 or 12 years old a college student stayed with us for a few months and she allowed me to listen to her record collection. She had a Carpenters album that had recently come out (one of the first) and I fell in love with Karen's voice. It wasn't the pop-rock that normally appealed to me but I loved it.

[MawMaw]

Originally Posted by CC1

I agree. She had a very unique voice. Very soothing. Her death was very sad. I think she was the first and maybe only Celebrity death I knew about that was brought on by a eating disorder.

When I was about 11 or 12 years old a college student stayed with us for a few months and she allowed me to listen to her record collection. She had a Carpenters album that had recently come out (one of the first) and I fell in love with Karen's voice. It wasn't the pop-rock that normally appealed to me but I loved it.

You're right. Her voice was very unique and soothing.

Their Christmas Album "Christmas Portrait", is my most
favorite of all Christmas albums.

[Jermyn Davidson]

I like Rod Stewart's, "Forever Young"-- heard it for the first time when I was in 6th grade and it just stayed with me.

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by Pilgrum

John Denver
James Taylor
Neil Young
Simon & Garfunkel
Tracy Chapman
Emmylou Harris
Judy Collins
Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Leo Kotke
Phil Keaggy
Alison Krrauss

To name a few.

I thought Phil Keaggy was a Christian artist. I know he has released Christian music and I like his Christian stuff alot.

[Jito463]

I'm of the mind (and this is applicable to me personally, I'm not judging anyone, though I'd definitely recommend these standards to anyone), that only Christian music should be listened to. In fact, I go so far as to judge even "Christian" music by extremely high standards. There's a lot of music played on the "Christian" music stations (hereafter CMS) that I abhor, and absolutely will not listen to.

My criteria is that I won't listen to anything that doesn't have Christ as the focus. The song can be about anything, so long as Christ is at the center of it. The example I usually use as a comparison is several years back the CMS played this "Butterfly Kisses" song over and over again. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the song per se, but I refused to listen to it because it has nothing to do with God. It was just about his daughter. The closest it ever came to talking about God, was some line about thanking God above.

By comparison, Phillips, Craig and Dean had a song titled "I wanna be just like You". The whole song was about his relationship with his son, but the focus was about his relationship with God.

"Lord, I wanna be just like You, cause he wants to be just like me
I wanna be a holy example for his innocent eyes to see
Let me be a living Bible, Lord, that my little boy can read
I wanna be just like You, cause he wants to be like me".

Two songs, both about a parent and their relationship with their child, but the PCD song has God as the focus, while the other one barely mentioned Him. I get even more picky than that, to be honest, but I think that's the most clear example I can use of my standards.

[FlamingZword]

I am not into secular artists, however I would like to see someone Christianize secular songs. A few words changed here and there and most songs could be used in church.

[Miss Scarlett]

Originally Posted by BrotherEastman

I'll probably be judged by this, but, here goes: I like "sharped dressed man" by ZZTop.

(DISCLAIMER) If there are any bad lyrics to this song, it's really the guitars that I like. lol

My son was a fan of ZZZTop, and I liked Sharped Dressed Man also.

[mfblume]

Not judging anyone, either, but the idea of only listening to Christian music sounds offkey because that sort of concept would only be consistent if one did not listen to anything not Christian, not just songs. Including conversations.

Just saying.

[Jito463]

Except music sticks with a person far longer than a conversation does. Remember, Lucifer was the angel of music. He knows it's power. A rhythm will stick in your head for hours, days, even weeks after you've heard it, whereas a conversation could be forgotten in the next breath.

[The Lemon]

I agree with the suggestion of caution with regards to what music someone is listening to...that also can be said about most anything, including who you hang out with, and places you go to some extent.

Having said that, it is in a sort of twisted way, amusing to me to see some of the arguments concerning "secular" music, and the defining of such being that it has nothing to do with Christ etc.

I can think of many great love songs by bands like Journey that my wife and I enjoy together. Being cautious is important, but I have seen many good brothers and sisters, including ministry, who are great in spiritual matters, and are so good in that arena that they have been very effective at making human emotion and in fact being human a sin.

While there is certainly sinful things and carnal desires that are not good, there are also many complexities to being human that are not all bad. Seeking God for balance is not a bad thing, and having intimate relations with your spouse is also not a bad thing, and if you want a romantic dinner alone with your spouse while listening to Barry White, well - that is your business.

If anyone is going to convince me that they listen to "I'm a Pentecostal", while enjoying a romantic evening alone with their spouse, sure...I believe you.

It is possible, in my opinion, to be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good...just sayin'.